Wollongong the Brave

Two months ago, Illawarra ABC Radio presenter Peter Hand was stood down for alleged bias after a complaint from a Liberal Senator. Anthony Ashbolt examines this extraordinary case of ABC capitulation to Government pressure 'Farewell Aunty Jack' may have been a signal of things to come. That bitter-sweet conclusion to an ABC show that placed Wollongong on the television map in the 1970s, captured a sense that the certainties of the past were fading away and a brave new world was soon to commence. More than 30 years later, Wollongong the Brave has become a little known frontline in the battle to protect the ABC's independence. The key element here is the direct intervention of Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.